Q&A: The Scope of Torah
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The Scope of Torah
Question
Hello to the honored Rabbi, may he live long.
The words of the Sages are divided into three categories: matters of law and Jewish law, matters of ethics and philosophy, and matters of science.
In Jewish law it is understood that we follow the Sages; in science, apparently, they have no authority. My question is about the ethics and philosophy of the Sages: to what extent do we need to accept them? Is that considered Torah? And how binding is it?
2. Were the aggadic teachings of the Sages on the Torah passed down through tradition?
Answer
- To the best of my judgment, they have no authority in the areas of ethics and philosophy. Why should they? Their authority stems from the fact that we accepted them upon ourselves, and we did this only in the area of Jewish law. Moreover, even if we were to accept their authority in philosophy, I think that would have no validity, because there is no authority in factual matters. In the realm of ethics, this is a universal plane (there is no specifically Jewish morality), and therefore there too, in my opinion, the Sages have no authority.
2. As I understand it, no. I do not see what could be passed down through tradition there, since we are not dealing with facts or with Jewish law.